A Friends fan has come up with a dark alternative ending to the much-loved American sitcom - with the last episode revealing that all ten series were actually visions of a drug-addicted and homeless Phoebe Buffay.

London-based Gareth Stranks' harrowing idea for how the curtains could have closed on the hit Nineties show has gone viral since he tweeted it on Tuesday.

Rather than seeing the six pals have one last coffee together, the 30-year-old graphic designer would have the eccentric character staring through the window of famous coffee house Central Perk - watching Rachel Green, Joey Tribbiani, Chandler Bing, Monica Bing and Ross Geller having fun together.

Scroll down for video

Friends fan Gareth Stranks has come up with a horribly dark alternative ending to the much-loved American sitcom

Friends would have taken a really rather grim turn if Gareth had been in charge of the Manhattan-based programme.

'I'd have ended Friends by revealing it was all the meth-addled fantasy of a homeless Phoebe as she stared through the window of Central Perk,' he wrote on social media.

Share this article

'Each kooky aside, each time she made everything about her, each example of how she's an outsider, it all makes sense. All she ever wanted was... Friends.'

Gareth suggests the final scene could have seen Phoebe walking away as the other characters - all with different names and personalities - gossip about 'the crazy lady who always stares at us'.

Gareth suggests the sitcom was the 'meth-addled fantasy of a homeless Phoebe as she stared through the window of Central Perk'

The camera would then pan to a seemingly dishevelled-looking Phoebe as she heads to Central Park where she sleeps in front of the fountain, puts up 'six dirty but brightly-coloured umbrellas' and everything 'fades to black'.